Yesterday Ended Last Night

Ministers are unapologetic about borrowing ideas from one another in an effort to serve their congregations. The title of my blog this week is blatantly copied from my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Arleen Bump. It was also the title of her talk last Sunday at her center in Fort Lauderdale.

Dr. Arleen’s talk was about letting go. To move forward in life we must live in the present while focusing on the future. I remember on Wednesday evening many years ago in Glendale, California, we watched Dr. Arleen demonstrate “backing into our future.” She visually made her point as she focused on the back of the sanctuary while walking backwards into one of the potted plants on stage. I think of how often I’ve tried that in my own life, wondering why I’m running into obstacles only to discover that I was focused on where I’d been instead of where I was going.

It’s easy to move on to our next experience in life when we are complete, settled and at peace with past events. When we allow past or recent events to plague us we can’t expect contentment. But how do we move through those events when we are stuck in “Why?” or even, “Why, God?”

Someone once suggested to me that there are no right answers to “Why?” questions. I know in my own life I have often discovered the “why” in time, perhaps years later, but often not in the present moment of the pain of wondering how an event could have occurred in the first place. Perhaps you have just released the past year, but find you are still holding onto a little bit of this or that.

The only way to let go of the past is to be willing to do so. Something else I learned from Dr. Arleen was that we “hold onto things until the pain of holding on is greater than the pain of letting go.” Determine today that the past is totally over and done with and it’s time to move forward into a brand new life. This means not just the life we begin every New Year, but the life that is consciously co-created with God every day and every second.

Yesterday ended last night. Celebrate the present and look forward to a future of wonderment and joy!

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry